Ice Breaker
Hervena wore a look so murderous it seemed she might fling a spell straight at Kunsai at any moment.
Blow caught it and shot a quick glance at Jane, seated on Hervena's left. Quick on the uptake, Jane set a shrimp on Hervena's plate.
"Hervena, eat this."
"...Hm?"
"You like shrimp. Come on, Hervena."
"Ah..."
Hervena snapped back to herself, took a swallow of water, and quietly began peeling the shrimp Jane had given her.
I'll have to give her a firm talking-to about how we treat guests. Then again, until now our "guests" have mostly been kids from our own school...
Even so, deep down, Blow understood her. The boy's words had scraped him a little, too.
What Kunsai had just said — that the food was salty across the board — was entirely true. And that was precisely why it cut so deep.
But anger and discouragement both came second to regret. No one knew better than he did that the current menu wasn't so much balanced as overwhelmingly salty, and no one knew better than he — a man who had lived in a world of fried Oreos, where celebrities buried their noses in chocolate fountains — just how desperately sweetness was missing.
The reason the food had to be seasoned so heavily was simple and clear. Sweeteners cost far too much.
From the very first time he had conceived of roasted potatoes, all the way through yesterday's talk with Jane about carbonated water, one thing had nagged at him through the whole of the business: the absence of sugar, which in that other world you could buy cheap and easy at any market. It wasn't only Caipol's problem. It was the Empire of Serdia's. Sugar, curry powder, coffee — the southern nation of Parso had a lock on all of it, and the substitutes, maple syrup and honey, were hardly cheap enough to make up the difference.
He hadn't been ignorant of the problem. He simply couldn't solve it yet, and so all he felt was regret. Which was why he could answer Kunsai as if it were nothing.
"Sugar's expensive. If we want to keep a margin, there isn't much choice."
"I knew it! So that was why!"
"Yes, well... that's how it is."
"Aha! I knew it... I knew it!"
Then Kunsai hooked two fingers into his collar as if the shirt were choking him, tugged, and swallowed hard.
Hm?
The gesture was conspicuous enough that Blow studied him closely. Kunsai's leg was trembling. The corner of his smiling mouth twitched. Beads of sweat stood out on his forehead.
"But! It's a delicious kind of salty. Not too much! It'd be perfect with beer!!"
"It is. The beer sells quite well."
Watching Kunsai shout in that same strained voice, Blow stroked his chin.
He's nervous, isn't he?
The boy was still wiping sweat again and again, and Blow settled on that conclusion — only for another question to rise. Why had this boy named Kunsai been waiting for him since Thursday? It couldn't really have been just to cadge a potato. But he was wound so tight that blurting the question out felt wrong, and while Blow was still turning it over, a chair scraped at the next table. Skadi dropped into the seat beside him with a brilliant smile.
"What?"
"I'm joining you."
"Hm?"
Skadi's eyes sparkled with interest as they met his. Blow thought of the girl who had been friendly with him even in his scoundrel days, the one almost no one at school disliked, and decided it might not be a bad thing.
"If the guest across from us doesn't mind."
"I don't mind at all!"
More sweat beaded on Kunsai's brow at the sight of her. Skadi watched him a moment, then leaned in and asked, easy and unhurried.
"Your name's Kunsai?"
"Yes!"
"Care to have a beer with us? I like beer, and so does our boss."
"Ah, I'm small, so I don't hold my liquor well. If I got drunk, it'd be a disaster!"
"You drink to get drunk, Mister Kunsai. My, what a wonderfully cost-efficient body you have!"
Kunsai shot a glance at his attendant. The man, who had been sitting and listening all the while, gave him the slightest nod.
"Then! Just one glass!"
"Good! Mister Kunsai! Shall we get to know each other?"
"I'll fetch the beer."
"Oh, such an honor! Thank you, young master!!"
"It's nothing."
While he went for the beer, Skadi — who had already taken the reins of the conversation — asked in a coaxing tone.
"How old are you?"
"Sixteen!"
"I'm seventeen. Mind if I speak a little more casually?"
"Ah, yes, please do! And, if I may — what's your name?"
"I'm Skadi Hetaya."
"Skadi? Are you from the North?"
Everyone flinched and looked at Skadi, but her face didn't change at all.
"Yep! But home's in the East now."
"Strictly speaking, Caipol is in the West, so right now you're in the West!"
"So I am! You're pretty sharp, aren't you?"
...What was this conversation — a duel on a knife's edge, and yet somehow the temperature was being carefully matched?
Even as he thought it, Blow was impressed. With every line she tossed out, a little of the strain left Kunsai's voice.
"Then you must be from the South, Kunsai."
"Yes, that's right. I come from Chert Village, near... Parso."
"Chert Village? Pretty name. The weather must be nice down south."
"Thank you for the compliment. As you say, it's warm all year round."
"So the snow — you saw it for the first time when you came to Caipol?"
"Yes. The whole world turned white. It surprised me more than I expected."
Kunsai seemed to turn something over, then looked at her and asked, careful.
"But earlier, your family name was Hetaya, wasn't it?"
"Yep."
"That name... would it be Grand Duke Björn's...?"
"That's right. He's my father."
"Aha! So you're a young lady of the house? I thought I sensed a certain dignity."
"Right? I hear that a lot! Umhaha."
Plain as day, though — Blow's face twisted into a look that said not even a little, and Hervena made the sound of a laugh she was failing to hold in. Skadi glared at the two of them in turn, and in the middle of it Kunsai put a careful question to her.
"Are you and the young master close, my lady?"
"Pretty inseparable, wouldn't you say?"
"Were we?"
When Blow answered in a teasing tone, a little air went into Skadi's cheeks and she shouted, aggrieved.
"Hey! Then what are we!"
"I'm joking. We are quite close."
"You drop the formal speech too! Blow and I are the same age, so it's fine, right, Kunsai?"
"Uh... uh, yes! Please do. I was wondering why the young master was speaking so politely to me."
"Because you're a guest."
Blow answered awkwardly, and Skadi held out her cup in a bright voice.
"All right, then — a toast? Boss, you're drinking too."
"Sure."
"Th-the honor is mine."
They tipped their beers back together. Unlike the two of them, who drained theirs in a single go, Kunsai sipped his like tea. Skadi watched him with what looked like genuine pity.
"Beer is about the swallow! If you're going to drink it like that, wouldn't wine be better?"
"Haha, I'm fine. It's almost my first time, and the bitterness of the barley is striking."
"What a shame."
"The truth is, I'm full."
A smile spread across Skadi's mouth.
"My, how frail. I see you're at Caipol Central. How is it? Manageable?"
"Ah, school? The festival's coming up, so everyone's excited."
"Yeah? I've never been to another school's festival. Invite me and I'll come."
"R-really?"
Color rose in Kunsai's face, and Skadi shrugged.
"If I have time."
"I hear the students at the magic school are terribly busy."
"They are. The second exam is in a few days, actually."
"A second exam? Then there's a third as well?"
"Sadly, yes."
"Oh dear, that must be hard."
Skadi carried the conversation along with easy grace. The trembling in his leg was gone, and his shoulders had loosened. Blow, watching closely, thought that bringing Skadi along the first time he met someone might not be a bad idea — for the other person's sake, if nothing else.
Skadi caught his eye, lifted her beer with a small smile, and he clinked his cup against hers at once. Kunsai, who had been staring at them, worked his lips and finally managed to begin.
"Um..."
He hesitated once more, then seemed to make up his mind and shot to his feet.
"Since you treated me to a meal, may I treat you to dessert?"
The words were unexpected enough that Skadi's eyes went round.
"Dessert?"
"Yes. The truth is, I came prepared."
"You came prepared? There are quite a few of us, though."
"I brought plenty. It should be all right."
"Hmm? What is it?"
Skadi asked with clear interest, and Kunsai nodded as he answered.
"Donuts."
"Donuts?"
"Yes, that's right."
"Donuts! That'd be a first for this inn."
"If he's offering... but everyone's pretty full. What do you all think?"
At Blow's question, they glanced at one another. Then Hervena's voice reached his ear.
"Separately."
"What is?"
"A dessert stomach... is something you keep in reserve."
"Everyone agree?"
They all nodded. Megan in particular nodded very deeply, as if she felt it in her soul.
"So they say."
"Then, I'm sorry to ask, but may I borrow the kitchen?"
"I think you'd have to ask the owner of the kitchen."
Every eye swung at once to Melo, seated beside Jane. Melo, who had been pouting after hearing something unpleasant for the first time in a while, whispered so faintly it was barely there.
"Yes..."
"She says yes."
"Ah, thank you."
But Melo's eyes had narrowed to crescents, and she was staring at Kunsai with force behind them.
...I'm going to see just how good it is.
Kunsai, unaware of the way she was looking at him, had already turned to his attendant.
"Mister Luta."
Luta nodded instead of answering and went into the kitchen. Blow followed his back with his eyes, then asked Kunsai lightly.
"The ingredients?"
"Ah, we brought everything. We'll be as quick as we can."
"Hm...? What were you going to do if we'd said we wouldn't eat them?"
"Haha, then Mister Luta and I would have eaten them all week."
"...I see. Hans, go give them a hand? It'll be their first time in our kitchen."
"Yes, young master."
Once they were gone, Blow finally let out a breath. Skadi thrust her cup at him.
"We should have one of our own."
"We should. Your cup's empty, though."
"Then go get some."
"...Yes."
A little later he set a beer in front of her, and Skadi, cup in hand, was sparkling the way she always did.
"Skadi."
"What?"
"Thanks."
"Umhaha. Thanks for what! I, Skadi Hetaya, am a fairly useful woman!"
"Yeah. Just what you'd expect from last festival's queen — second place in the vote..."
The words were barely out before her face went scarlet. She contorted it into every expression at once and practically shouted at him.
"You — how did you know about that!"
"Senior Yulia told me."
"When!"
"At yesterday's dinner. When you stepped out to the washroom, I think."
"......"
"If something that funny existed, you should have said so sooner. Hervena and Linne are disappointed too, you know."
Hervena and Linne avoided his eyes as he turned.
"No, something like that... haah..."
"What's the problem? It's not a bad thing."
"....So annoying."
Already certain she would be teased for the rest of time, Skadi stuck out her lip.
A little later, the sizzle of frying donuts began to rise from the kitchen.
Blow thought back to the donuts he had eaten in Caipol before he collapsed. Most of them had been nothing more than flour packed hard and fried, the sort of thing you couldn't face a second time. Remembering that dizzying texture, he called to Jane, who was soothing Melo's temper at the next table.
"Jane."
"Yes, young master."
"Where's that maple syrup we bought?"
"It should be put away on that shelf."
"Yeah? Then shall we dip the donuts in it?"
"Ah, yes, I'd like that!"
Jane had just started to rise when Kunsai poked his head out and offered an awkward smile.
"It's all right, young master."
"Why?"
"You won't need the maple syrup."
"...You're not putting raisins in them, are you?"
"Haha, you don't like raisins? No."
At Kunsai's easy laugh, Blow could breathe a sigh of relief.
"That's a weight off. Jane, put it back. We'll have it another time."
"Yes."
"Skadi, let's push the tables together."
"Gladly."
They had just joined the tables when Kunsai's voice came from the kitchen.
"Food's coming out."
With that clear call, Luta emerged carrying a basket heaped with donuts. They weren't the shape Blow knew, with a hole through the middle. They were round balls, smaller than a fist, their surfaces rough and uneven. The freshly fried ones on top glowed a golden yellow, while those underneath, a little older, were already shading toward brown. A soft scent rose from them — flour, oil, and butter all mingled together.
"Oh..."
"Well! You said you were confident, and you meant it!"
Skadi wrapped one in paper and kept exclaiming. Everyone looked as if they couldn't wait, so Blow turned quickly to Kunsai, who stood modestly at his side.
"We can eat them, right?"
"Yes. Please, right away! They're best fresh out of the oil."
Blow nodded once, picked up a donut, and — it was a little hot, so he passed it from right hand to left, blew on it, and finally took a big bite.
What hit him first was not what he expected. Not the flavor of the flour, not the softness of the butter, not the savor of the oil. It was a sweetness so fierce it numbed his tongue, a sweetness that flooded his mouth the more he chewed. The kind he had only known in that other world — the kind where two of them would rot every tooth you had.
It had come on so suddenly, after so long, that his mind stalled for a moment. Only then did he notice the countless yellow grains glittering all over the donut.
...What the fuck is this?
While the startled Blow stared at Kunsai, Skadi beside him was shouting, thoroughly worked up.
"What? This!? Why is it so sweet??"
The others seemed to feel the same; exclamations spilled out of every mouth. Blow finally came back to himself and looked at Kunsai, who stood with his hands neatly together.
"This dusted on the donuts — don't tell me it's sugar?"
"Yes."
"For the price of a few potatoes, this is far too expensive a return. You must have used a silver's worth of sugar on each one."
"No."
"That can't be."
Then Kunsai reached into his coat, drew out a sheet of paper, and cried out in a voice of pure resolve.